Overly Protective Father
by Espionne
Summary: Inspired by the "Overly Attached Girlfriend" meme floating around the internet, plus the tendency of some fathers to be a little *too* protective of their daughters. Especially when Tim Scam himself is the father.
1. First Encounter

_A/N: Just a silly idea that I got and decided to put into words. This is what Scam would be like if he became a father. Special thanks to KraziiePyrozHaveMoreFun for Celeste's name!_

* * *

A cool autumn breeze swept through her auburn hair, tousling it as she biked through the colorful foliage. Her wristwatch read six o'clock, but she could see that the distant sun was already beginning to show signs of setting. In New England, where her parents owned a vacation home, the start of the fall season meant that the sun retired earlier with each day.

"Eric, we have to move quickly," Celeste said to the blond-haired boy biking right beside her, as they steered into the driveway of a rustic mansion. "I told my dad we'd be home at six, and he doesn't like people to be late." Hopping off their bikes, the pair of teenagers parked carefully and began running towards the front porch.

"Dad, we're home!" Celeste yelled, hurrying up to the hulking figure there. As she neared it, a gasp suddenly escaped her as she realized that her father was holding a large rifle, though thankfully not pointing it at them. Throwing a nervous glance back at her boyfriend, she saw that he had noticed the rifle before she did, and was slowly starting to back away.

From Eric's point of view, the man before him was massive. He himself was no dwarf, standing at nearly six feet tall, but this man was even taller and had a certain aura about him that seemed to make him appear even larger than he already was. Though he could plainly see that this was Mr. Scam – the similarity of his features to Celeste's was striking, particularly their unique green shade of eyes – he hadn't expected him to look this… _menacing. _

Tim Scam didn't bother to look up till a few moments later, as he calmly cleaned and loaded his rifle. When he did, he saw Celeste and his face softened considerably. "Hi, sweetie," he smiled. "And this is Eric?" The boy didn't miss the way Scam's face had hardened again as he turned to face him.

"Yes," his daughter replied. Then in an exasperated tone, she continued, "Dad, would you explain why you have your rifle on you? It's just us."

"What do you mean, honey?" he asked innocently. "I'm only cleaning it – you know, proper firearm maintenance." Shaking her head and muttering under her breath, Celeste turned away just in time to miss her father's smirk.

"But why do you have to clean it _now?_" she demanded. "Couldn't you have waited until later?"

"Not really," her father smirked again. "I actually brought this out to go shooting earlier today. This time of year is perfect for hunting game. The main course of tonight's menu is duck – guess where it came from." Celeste sighed and elbowed him, though she was secretly relieved that he hadn't really been trying to frighten anyone.

"Okay, Dad," she mumbled. "I'll just take Eric on a tour of this estate until you tell us when dinner's ready." He nodded sharply, and the two teenagers turned around to leave.

Although Eric hadn't yet uttered a single word, he still hadn't missed the way Mr. Scam had seemed to tense upon seeing him. Somehow, even though his explanation for why he happened to have his rifle was reasonable, he had a strong feeling that he had to be _very _cautious around Celeste's father…

"Eric, catch!"

Whipping around at the shout, Eric caught a flying projectile that had been aimed straight at his face just in the nick of time. After taking a couple of seconds to still his racing heart, his eyes widened when he saw that he was holding a bullet in his hand. "The rifle…" Eric quietly breathed as an eerie chill ran up his spine. "He was trying to send a message…"

"Nice catch," Tim Scam smirked, walking towards the stunned boy. Seeing that Eric remained in too much shock to react, he bent down slightly to speak to him.

"Listen very carefully," he whispered in no uncertain terms, not bothering to hide hints of bloodlust in his tone as he did so, "this is my little girl you're dealing with, and if you try any funny stuff, the next one might come a _little _faster. Understood?"

"_Daddy,_ _please!" _Celeste's somewhat irritated plea rang out. Several silent moments passed that seemed to drag on for hours. Then Scam blinked and straightened up.

"I'll see both of you in the dining room in exactly one hour," he smirked one last time before he headed back to the mansion, his large boots crunching noisily against the dead leaves as he did so.

Whether he had dreamt up the whole scene or not, one thing was now clear to Eric: the Scam household had one _intense _patriarch.


	2. Celeste Tells A Story

_A/N: I had so much fun writing the first part of this story that I just had to continue the silliness. Special thanks to Cresenta's Lark for coming up with Steffy's name!_

* * *

A fragrant aroma wafted from the kitchen, filling the entire mansion with the tantalizing scent of roast duck. Two teenagers, their faces flushed from their earlier walk around the vast plains surrounding the mansion, stepped into the room and immediately looked around for the source of the smell. It didn't take long before they noticed the redheaded woman busy setting the table.

"Hi, Mom!" Celeste piped up cheerfully, eliciting a warm smile from Samantha Scam as she turned to look at them. The resemblance between mother and daughter wasn't quite as clear as that between Celeste and her father, but Eric remembered that Celeste had once shown him a photo of her with her older sister Stephanie (whom everyone called Steffy for short), and Steffy had looked exactly like a younger version of their mother.

"Is this Eric?" Mrs. Scam asked, turning her emerald gaze onto the boy and quickly snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Yes," Eric grinned. "Nice to meet you." They shook hands as he noted that she was nowhere near as intimidating as her husband, though they also seemed to strangely complement each other.

"You've met Celeste's father, haven't you?" Mrs. Scam asked. Seeing that Eric looked a bit nervous at the recollection of his first encounter with Mr. Scam, she laughed. "Don't worry about him," she said reassuringly. "I guessed what had happened after he came indoors with his rifle, muttering something about boyfriends needing to know their place. So I sternly told him that I would not have him scaring any guests of ours as long as I was around."

"That's pretty much a guarantee that Dad won't do anything," Celeste added, smiling as she slid into a chair. "He listens to whatever she says. He's been through a lot, so it's still really hard for him to trust people in general, but he's working on it. My dad isn't actually a bad guy at all – he just doesn't tolerate sloppy behavior from anyone. I know he acts all tough and likes to throw his weight around, but when it comes to Mom he's a big softie."

Eric raised an eyebrow in response. "I can see that," he replied, sitting down beside her.

"Wonderful – you're all on time," came a male voice, and they all turned to see Tim Scam looming in the doorway with a wide smirk spread across his face. Eric gulped and hoped that Mr. Scam hadn't heard his response to Celeste's earlier remark about him being a 'softie'.

"I was in the other kitchen making appetizers," Scam went on, silently relishing Eric's obvious discomfort around him as he sat beside his wife at the table and produced a small basket covered with a handkerchief. "Just some garlic bread to start off dinner."

At this, Celeste suddenly burst out laughing hysterically and Mrs. Scam hid a smile. "What?" Tim Scam asked, feigning confusion at his wife and daughter's amusement. "What's wrong with garlic bread?" As they laughed even harder, he discreetly smirked at Eric and winked.

"Oh – oh dear," Celeste managed to gasp out in between fits of giggling. "Dad, _please _tell me you're not trying that again!" She turned to Eric, who was looking more and more bewildered with each passing second. "So there's definitely a story behind this," she began, after clearing her throat. "I happen to love eating garlic bread, and my dad took advantage of that. In middle school, when I started going to school dances or other social functions, Dad would always make me garlic bread as a snack before I left. I could never figure out why I had such a hard time getting guys to dance with me. It took me a few years before I realized that I was probably smelling like garlic the whole time – yes, I'm slow!" With that, she broke out into another fit of laughter as her father sat back and smirked. Despite himself, Eric also couldn't help chuckling at the mental image that formed in his head.

"He did that to Steffy too, and even to me once," Mrs. Scam said, mixing some salad in a large bowl. "I must admit, it was very clever – we didn't suspect a thing for a while."

"Speaking of Steffy," Celeste went on, "a couple of years ago she brought her boyfriend Joe over to this place for Thanksgiving. Joe turned out to be a huge jerk, but since he was the first boyfriend my sister ever had, she was still relatively inexperienced and didn't pick up on this until later. So anyway, my mom brought out a couple of fine wines from her collection in the cellar and Joe had a bit too much to drink. He got really aggressive and started berating Steffy for no reason.

"Mom tried to step in between them, but Joe gave her a hard time as well. Dad was visibly _seething _at the sight! Then Joe reached out and slapped my mom across the face, and Dad completely lost it. He marched up to Joe, locked him in a wrestling-style submission hold, and stormed toward the front door. Dad kicked the door open and literally _threw_ Joe out with such force that he ended up with several broken bones and a cut-up chin, and had to be sent to the hospital. Needless to say, he and Steffy were no longer together after that."

Celeste and her mother burst into laughter again, as her father merely glared at the memory. "The idiot deserved it," he muttered grumpily after a while, causing them to laugh even harder. Eric didn't doubt the story, as he knew that he wouldn't have stood a chance himself in a fight against the large man sitting opposite him.

But from what he'd already heard from Tim Scam's wife and daughter that evening, he also didn't doubt that Scam had some goodness in him. Even without any prior knowledge, Eric saw a man that was fiercely loyal to those he cared for, and despite all of Scam's overprotective tendencies, he could only hope to obtain his trust someday.


End file.
